Joey Barton says the challenge of trying to win trophies rather than fighting relegation persuaded him to pick Rangers over the English Premier League.

The 33-year-old, who had the chance to stay with Burnley, has signed for the Ibrox side on a two-year deal.

After a career than has included spells with Manchester City, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers and Marseille, the former England midfielder says Rangers' management team and the facilities sold him on the move.

He said: "I came up here a week ago and I was just blown away by the history and tradition in the stadium.

"That is really seductive for someone like myself, who is a football man.

"I had a great tour guide in [assistant boss] Davie Weir. As soon as I walked into the trophy room and saw the portrait of Bill Struth and the 54 pennants on the wall I was just bitten.

"When I saw what had gone before and when I spoke to the gaffer here and saw what an exciting future this football club could have, I thought it was an opportunity I just can't turn down.

"I had great options on the table. I had a phenomenal year at Burnley but what they are going to do next year is a something I've done before.

"I had far better financial offers but I swore to myself a long time ago I would never make a career decision based on finance.

"You've got to be true to yourself as a human being. You've got to be comfortable looking the man in the mirror each morning in the eye. Coming to Rangers allows me to do that and know I'm taking on the correct challenge.

"I've played in the Premier League for a number of years. The last few times I've been battling relegation but in the cold light of day, the competitive animal in me wants to win trophies.

"I had a taste of that last year winning the Championship, with the collective and personal accolades that came with that. The easy thing would have been to stay with Burnley in a comfort zone.

"But I'm very keen to keep challenging my own perception of what the game is and experience as much of this great game as I can.

"Hopefully this is now a very successful period in the club's history and I can contribute to that."

Barton has frequently courted controversy on and off the field, spending time in jail for assault and affray in 2008 while he has also been involved with altercations with team-mates during his time in Manchester.

The Liverpool-born player discussed his reputation and laughed off previous tweets where he expressed support for city rivals Celtic ahead of derby clashes in 2016/17.

"You only support one club," he insisted. "C'mon let's have it right, I'm an Evertonian.

"But coming from a football family, if the Milan derby was on you'd have to pick a side, AC Milan or Inter. If it's Barca vs Real Madrid, I'd have to pick a side. That's just what we do.

"So obviously being Joseph Anthony and having gone to Catholic schools, I didn't really have a choice when it came to it. So I looked out for one of the teams when the Old Firm was on. I've said on Twitter, amongst other things, I'm a Celtic fan.

"You have to take that in jest. I don't think anybody will have any doubt about my allegiances when we play Celtic."